What Came Next
by mimibeebee
Summary: "Where are we?" I lean a little in my seat so I can see through the windshield. Straight ahead I can see a pretty little park, a path around a huge lake with a fountain at the center.  "Roger can answer that for you, my dear," she says.  My heart freezes.


**We read **_**A Mango Shaped Space**_** as a class in the third grade.**

**I remembered bits and pieces, not really bothering about it that much. It was just a book. Who cares?**

**But lately I've been talking with this girl on YouTube who has a form of synesthesia where she sees colors whenever she tastes something and it inspired me to reread this book….**

**Let me just say that simply claiming the book was "good" does it NO JUSTICE. YOU NEED TO READ IT!**

**And then read my story! hahah I think there needed to be more Roger-Mia action and um…yeah ok I'm gonna stop rambling…ok bye!**

My hands are shaking, but not like I'm nervous. It's my first acupuncture since we adopted Dijon (Zack is still trying to think of a lengthy name to match Mango's, which was Mango the Magnificat, but I know he'll never think of one because Mango was one of a kind) and my mom's expecting a full report about the color clouds I see afterwards.

Just remembering coming clean about the secret needle-prickings makes my hands seem sturdier. I'm not sure why I feel more confident; my parents aren't hard to stand up to. Maybe it's because they accepted the fact that I was growing up, and that I knew the most about my condition than they ever would and have decided to have faith in me.

Ha-ha, faith.

That would've given Faith a nice chuckle.

As I get closer and closer to Roger's house, I'm not sure why I keep getting more and more nervous. Maybe it's because I'm a lot more aware that he's color blind. But wait.

This shouldn't change anything between us. He's still him and I'm still me. It's not different but…it feels …different….

Is this how Jenna felt after she found out about me? Did she just mask it by acting angry? Am I just masking it by pretending I'm nervous?

No. I am _not_ going to let anything come between me and Roger. I never thought I was that type of person. I was always the discriminee, not the discriminator.

Not that I'm discriminating—

Just as I reach his house, the garage opens up and his mom backs the car out into the driveway. Roger waves me in and I'm forced out of my thoughts.

For some reason, his mom doesn't fill the car with talking. In a way I'm relieved: now I don't have to deal with the dirt-brown and cream triangles I see when she talks. It's not like I dislike_ her. _It's just that I really don't enjoy seeing those colors together. Not the prettiest pair.

But in another way I'm fidgety. The car is awkwardly silent and I'm not sure what to say. I can see out of my peripheral vision that Roger keeps glancing my direction. I do my best to seem as if the silence is not only completely normal, but that I actually enjoy it. I stare out the window in a forced-normal matter.

Suddenly, my mind shifts from worrying about appearing indifferent to being aware of our surroundings.

I don't recognize any of the scenery.

We're surrounded by big houses, possibly three or more stories, with lush grass and flowers bordering them all.

For some reason, I think Mrs. Carson forgot where we're going.

"Um, Mrs. Carson—" I start to say, my voice a little scratchy from lack of use.

"Hush dear," she surprises me by sharply responding. I'm seeing those ugly colors, but at least the silence is broken enough for me to say something else without feeling weird.

"Where are we?" I lean a little in my seat so I can see through the windshield and straight ahead I can see a pretty little park, a path around a huge lake with a gigantic fountain at the center.

"Roger can answer that for you, my dear," she says, never taking her eyes off the road.

My heart freezes. Or does it speed up? I can't really tell; what I _can_ tell is that I'm abruptly scared. Even more so when his mom edges the car up against the sidewalk and stops it.

I'm wishing this had happened after the acupuncture. I'd really like to see Roger's aura right about now. I can just imagine the red tendrils of color reaching toward me….

He gets out of the car, goes around, and then opens my door.

A big part of me doesn't want to get out of the car, but I'm very well not going to demand I be driven home. I unbuckle and step out.

I'm nearly astonished to see that Roger's not even blushing. Probably because I'm doing enough for the both of us. He reaches for my hand, shuts the door with his free one, and leads me onto the grass as his mom drives away.

The park is even more majestic-looking close up. A few other families are walking around the sidewalk that trims the lake, pushing strollers and feeding the ducks. Roger leads me to one of the biggest trees I've ever seen. It has a thick trunk and the branches start low. I make a mental note to asking him later on where the heck we are so Jenna and I can come back later and climb this hulking beast.

We sit down in the shade.

He immediately starts talking. I look at him in disbelief. I honestly never thought a guy like him could be so bold.

"Look, Mia, I know you probably think I'm crazy right now, I mean, _I_ think I'm crazy right now…I've never done this before….but anyway, I kind of just wanted to say—oh! And just so you know, this wasn't my idea, my mom says she thinks this spot would be nice, since the water looks cool when the sun's completely up, and I guess it kind of does, I can't really tell, mostly because all I can see is the light glinting off—"

I place my hand on top of his. He stops talking.

I can't believe my own nerve. But I say the words.

"I like you, Roger."

He sighs. "I think I was supposed to say that…."

I laugh a little and look away. We're silent for a moment, and then he says, "I'm really sorry."

I look at him. "For what?"

"I totally had your hopes up. You probably thought you were going to the acupuncture session, but you aren't, and I bet a little part of you is disappointed…."

He keeps on talking, but I stop paying attention and I'm hideously aware that I'm _not_ at the acupuncture session, which means I will have nothing to tell Mom, or worse: I'm going to have to _lie_ again.

She won't think so highly of me after she knows I've been not only skipping out on something she expects me to be doing, but skipping out with a _boy._

I put my face in my hands and groan.

Roger sounds alarmed. "Are you alright? I knew this was a bad idea…and I'm really sorry for rambling, I usually talk when I'm so nervous I feel like I'll lose my shorts—"

"No, it's ok," I tell him, lifting my head and meeting his eyes. "It's just that my mom wanted to hear about the colors I see today, but since we're not going, I won't have anything to tell her…and I hate lying…."

He looked really dejected, so I did the happy, careless thing and said, "You know what? Who cares! It's my life, and she doesn't have to know every little detail." I stand and extend my hand out to him. "C'mon. Let's take a walk around this beautiful lake." He hesitates and I add, "And it was a _great_ idea to come here."

We walk for a little bit and I stop him when we're aligned with the fountain. "I want to make a wish," I tell him. I pat my pockets as if expecting to find a coin even though I know there's no chance I'd have one. Zack is always saying that picking up a coin off the street tails-up is bad luck, and I believe him. That's one thing I'm really superstitious about: coins. It's really hard to find a coin heads-up, I'll tell you that offhand.

He smiles a little and gives me a quarter. I almost feel bad about using a whole entire quarter, but I figure that means more good luck.

I close my eyes, think real hard, and wish that…well, I don't have to tell you everything.

All of the sudden, I feel a shove on my back. The coin, prepared for launch, flies out of my hand and doesn't even make it close to landing in the fountain. I, however, graze the base with my head as I go under the water.

I stand up, wiping my hair back and blinking away icky lake water. The water level only goes up to about my waist, but still the fact that he pushed me in makes it that much worse.

Roger looks at me and shrugs. His face is red _now_. Probably holding back laughter.

"What the _heck,_ Roger?" I yell at him. I bet he doesn't even like me. He just did all this to humiliate me. I bet someone I know is going to pass by at any second and I'll look stupid and be all drenched.

I'm so angry all of the sudden I swiftly trudge to the sidewalk edge and snatch Roger's hand. Before he can react, I've pulled him in with me.

The splash of water actually sounds playful and happy, pink like cotton candy.

His head breaks the surface, and he's laughing, really hard. But not in the mean way the kids in my third grade class did. And it doesn't sound fake, the way Samantha-the-terrible-tutor sometimes laughs. He sounds genuinely happy.

I'm going to pretend I didn't think a lot of mean things about him just a second before.

I smile.

And I splash him in the face. More cotton candy.

He laughs more, and I have to admit, it's contagious. I start cracking up, eating a face-full of water when he kicks some back at me. But that only makes me laugh harder.

As we continue our water battle, I realize all those other things I used to worry about weren't bothering me now. I'm not even worried about explaining my water-soaked self to Mom. She'll just have to deal with it.

I guess, considering the scheme of things, being happy isn't based on whether or not your life is perfect. You can take me and Roger as an example: Mister and Missus Too-much-and-too-little Color.

It just depends on whether or not you can look past all the little imperfections.

**AHH! I just read this over and I realize Mia might be a tad OOC and the tense changes from past to present a few times! But you know what? WHO CARES! **

**LoL.**

**It's just really late and I'm tired and I want this to be done so yeah I really hope you love mah story and this will probably be my only **_**Mango Shaped Space **_**story evar soooo yeah ok BYE I LOVE YOU ALL!**

**Less than three (:**


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